146449: Ruling on accepting gifts and food such as sweets on her birthday from her family who celebrate it

Praise be to Allah, I do not celebrate my birthday but if I am given a gift on my birthday, what should I do? Should I accept it or refuse it?
Please note that my friend may get upset with me if I do not accept her gift.
Usually my family celebrates on such occasions by making sweets. What should I do? Is it permissible for me to eat from them?
What if I am given a gift one day after my birthday, and I know that it was bought because of this occasion and for no other reason? Is it permissible for me to accept it?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Celebrating a person’s birthday and taking it as an “eid”
or festival that comes every year is an innovation and imitation of the
kuffaar. Hence it is haraam to celebrate it whether that is done as an act
of worship or as a custom and tradition.

You have done well by not celebrating it, and we ask Allah to
reward you with good for that.

If your family celebrates that, then you have to do two
things:

1.
Offer them sincere advice and
explain that this is something that is not allowed in our religion.

2.
Do not take part in the
celebrations and avoid doing anything that could be understood as approval.

These guidelines will help you with regard to gifts that are
given to you and with regard to eating food or sweets that are made on these
occasions.

The basic principle is that you should not accept any kind of
gifts that come on such occasions, whether they are given to you on the same
day or afterwards, because accepting them implies approval of the occasion
and helps to perpetuate it. So you should excuse yourself from accepting
them, with the best of manners. If you are afraid that it will spoil the
relationship between you and your friend, then explain to her that you are
accepting this gift because of her friendship, not because of this
innovation, and explain to her that you will not accept that in the future
and you will not give her a gift on her birthday.

With regard to food or sweets that are made for this
occasion, you should definitely avoid them, because making and eating them
are part of the celebration; not eating it means that you are clearly
objecting to this innovation, and that may be a cause of their giving it
up.